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Employing a question and answer format, Center: The Power of Aikido describes the means by which a defender receives an opponent's attack without being injured, then uses the power of the attack to neutralize the opponent. Written in a clear and direct style, Ron Meyer and Mark Reeder reach practitioners at every level, revealing the often difficult concepts of Aikido in an understandable fashion. Not merely a book of techniques or forms, Center: The Power of Aikido addresses the underlying dynamics of moving energy through the body, and exploring the challenge of manipulating the energy of an aggressor.

Since I am now on my forth reading of this book, I must say that each time I read it I get even more from it. Mark and Ron explore "Center" in practical terms. The book is about connection, and how to achieve it, as well as balance breaking, spiraling, grounding and uprooting. They refer to musubi as a way to make these connections with what they term "SLT" or Second Level Training.

I highly recommend this book for all who would like to focus on how Aikido really works.

Excellent book. I think a must for all aikidoka to read and re read. Also its a wonderful book to help you structure your training in centre. All the years I've been training aikido, we've been asked to focus and train our centre but without a clear understanding of what that meant or why we did the exercises that we did. This book clears a lot of those questions up for me and I think it may help other aikidoka as well. well recommended.

This is hands-down the best techinical Aikido book I have read...and I have quite a collection. This book provides a very systematic and understandable approach to many of the harder to understand principles that are very often commented on in Aikido classes, but rarely explained (and just as often, rarely understood). Centering, grounding, aligning, \"power\", connection and manipulation or \"neutralizing\" an attackers balance are explored in depth in a manner that I haven\'t read before in any other books on the subject. This book is very technical, but not in the typical sense that many books about Aikido are. It does not explore or approach technique, but instead the actual movements, body structure, and principles of connection and balance that are needed in order to move on to technique. The authors give many good descriptions of the proper principles and ways to practice them. Entire chapters are devoted to breaking down each different aspect of these principles. I found the question and answer format a great approach to the material. This book mainly focuses on what happens after \"first touch\" occurs between partners, and the principles of connection and movement that are then important. It only touches briefly on timing and spacing... the authors leave that to other texts (though I hope that at some point they write a text on those things that is just as well done as this is). I highly recommend this product, and think it should be required reading by every Aikidoka at some point. The principles discussed are advanced, but I think everyone can get something out of this book. It is one I will be reading and re-reading over again. Dont be fooled by its small size...it packs a lot of complex info into its few pages.